Abortion foe gives GOP cover

In a victory for House Speaker John Boehner’s spending agreement, the National Right to Life Committee won’t stand in the way of the six-month appropriations bill — even though abortion foes lost out on efforts to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood and the new health care law.

The traditional anti-abortion powerhouse will take “no formal position on the government-wide FY 2011 appropriations bill (HR 1743) as a whole,” three high-ranking officials write in a letter obtained by POLITICO. The letter is being circulated to members of Congress on Tuesday.

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While coalition-building is often measured in words and deeds of support, the decision by NRLC to stay on the sidelines is a bit of a coup for Boehner and House GOP leaders. It gives cover to abortion foes to vote for the continuing resolution without the fear of alienating an important constituency.

“This is a positive boost for the agreement – which, while falling short of what truly must be done to protect innocent, unborn life, prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion in D.C. and allows the fight for life on other fronts to continue,” Boehner said.

The Right to Life folks didn’t leave the table empty-handed.

The House will vote on a pair of “enrollment resolutions” later this week that would prohibit funding for Planned Parenthood and the new health care law, paving the way for Senate votes on those items. The NRLC letter makes clear that the organization will use both votes in its scorecard for the 112th Congress. While the House already has voted on the two issues, senators who are up for re-election in 2012 will now have to take positions on Planned Parenthood and “Obamacare.”

If adopted, the enrollment resolutions would essentially amend the legislation on its way to the president. However, the Senate is not expected to pass either one.

The letter also applauds the inclusion of “a very important pro-life provision” — known colloquially as the D.C. Hyde Amendment or the Dornan Amendment — that prohibits the District of Columbia from subsidizing abortions.

It is signed by NRLC’s executive director, David N. O’Steen, its legislative director, Douglas Johnson, and Burke Balch, the director of the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics.